Adrian boys basketball downed by Dexter

The Dexter Dreadnaughts wore down the Adrian Maples boys basketball team 55-36 Friday night in a Southeastern Conference White Division game at Adrian High School.

The Dreadnaughts used scoring runs in each quarter and dominated both rebounds and free throws to post the win. Dexter had runs of 10-2 in the first quarter, 9-2 to start the second, 6-3 in the third quarter and 7-3 to start the fourth quarter.

The game started out well for the Maples. Adrian scored the first basket of the game, but Dexter scored the next 10 points and never looked back. After Dexter's second run opened a 19-8 lead in the second quarter, the closest Adrian came was within seven points.

Maples coach Phil Green said his team didn't give up, but just couldn't keep up with the bigger, more physical Dreadnaughts (9-1, 5-1 SEC).

"They are a good shooting team. They were 20 of 22 from the free-throw line," he said. "We've just got to keep playing hard and just get better."

The Maples (1-8, 1-5) cut the lead to 10-6 after one quarter, but Dexter went on a 9-2 run to start the second quarter. Noah Mellifont scored 11 of his game-high 13 points in the second quarter to stake Dexter to a 28-18 lead at halftime.

Coming out to start the second half, Joel Hill hit a 3-pointer for the Maples to cut the lead to 28-21, but Dexter methodically wore down Adrian, eventually extending the lead to 41-28 after three quarters. A 7-3 run to start the fourth quarter pushed lead to 48-31, and the Dreadnaughts cruised in for the victory.

With their 22 chances, the Dreadnaughts had many more attempts from the free-throw line, hitting all 10 in the first half. The only two misses came in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach for the Maples.

Adrian hit 5 of 7 from the line in the game. Dexter also controlled the boards, outrebounding the Maples 30-22 for the game.

Matthew Clark led the Maples with 11 points and five rebounds. Jeff Marvin hauled down six rebounds for the Maples. Clark was the only Adrian plyer in double figures, with Matt Cumbow scoring seven and Kevin Woodmore adding six.

London Truman had 10 points and five rebounds for Dexter. The Dreadnaughts' rebounds were well spread, with Derek Seidel leading the way with eight.

Green said the Maples hung tough with the bigger Dreadnaughts and have to build on the game.

"We've just got to keep our heads up," he said. "I thought we got over the hump (with the win over Tecumseh), but now, we've just got to keep getting better."

Adrian travels to Ann Arbor Tuesday to play Pioneer and then returns home to host Chelsea next Friday.